All This Marvelous Potential

February 1, 2020

On February 13 and 14, 1968, Sen. Robert Kennedy went on a fact-finding mission to eastern Kentucky, one the nation's most impoverished regions, to determine the success of President Johnson's War on Poverty. Algeo (Abe and Fido) presents a captivating account of Kennedy's journey, which ultimately helped him decide to challenge Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic presidential nomination. The people who invited Kennedy into their homes and then testified at hearings Kennedy held are the heroes here. They advocated forcefully for environmental concerns and education equality as ways to escape grinding poverty. Among the many colorful figures introduced are Alice Lloyd, founder of Carey Junior College (now Alice Lloyd College); Thomas Duff, a high school student who railed against politicians; and Reverend Lawrence Baldridge, the first local minister to marry an interracial couple. Baldridge concludes that the anger that drove people to support Kennedy at the time now motivates eastern Kentuckians to support Donald Trump. VERDICT This fast-paced narrative, focusing less on Kennedy and more on local people, will find audiences among those who enjoyed J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy and Tony Horowitz's Spying on the South.--Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2020
Early in the spring of 1968, shortly before he announced his candidacy for president, Robert Kennedy embarked on a brief, whirlwind fact-finding tour of the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky. Ostensibly, the goal of the tour was to see for himself the effects of extreme chronic poverty and to assess what effect, if any, President Johnson's recently enacted War on Poverty was having. What RFK saw and learned had a profound effect on how he planned to address the problem, were he to win the presidency. But RFK's presence also had a profound impact on the struggling Kentucky residents, as recounted in Algeo's (Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure, 2009) insightful history of the tour. What makes Algeo's account stand out is that he focuses less on Kennedy and more on the residents, politicians, and community activists who struggled daily with the onerous burden of severe chronic poverty. Algeo effectively tells their stories, describing the hope that RFK inspired; all the more poignant with our knowledge that Kennedy's potential would be cut short mere months later. A powerful story, skillfully told.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)